Lemonade
by Nayru
Summary: Lantis and Hikaru finally find the opportunity to discuss their feelings for eachother, but how are they going to handle it? HL fluff!


Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth. Clamp does. Nuff said.

Lemonade

"Hikaru, you want to help us pick some fruit?" Hikaru turned around to see Umi looking at her, holding huge fruit in her arms. 

"Woah! What are those things?" Hikaru said pointing towards the huge fruit in Umi's arms.

"Um… Cephiro Fruit!" Umi said as she thought of a name for them.

"They're about the size of Mokona though!" Hikaru said, still in shock.

"Okay, then they can be Mokona fruit." Umi said sighing. "Do you want to help Ascot and I pick fruit or not?" Umi restated the question.

"Sure I do, Umi-chan. Can I go find Mokona first?" Hikaru said.

"Ack, did you just remind yourself? Can we just go without the oversized bunny?" Umi rolled her eyes.

"But Umi..." Hikaru said, putting on the puppy eyes.

"Fine, fine, FINE!" Umi said, throwing her arms up in the air, which caused the huge fruit to go everywhere on the ground.

"Be right back, Umi-chan!" Hikaru yelled cheerfully back to Umi as she ran inside the castle to find Mokona leaving Umi to pick up the fruit.

Hikaru was running through the castle turning every corner to look for her fluffy friend, Mokona. Clef had told her that she wasn't supposed to run in the castle, but Hikaru had a hard time following that rule. As she darted around a corner she smacked into something. Hikaru hoped she hadn't just ran straight into a wall. She'd never hear the end of it if someone had seen it.

Hikaru rubbed her eyes and looked up to meet glances with Lantis. He just frowned down at her.

"Uh… hi Lantis! Sorry about smashing into you… I know I'm not supposed to run but—" 

"It's okay Hikaru." Lantis said quietly. Hikaru laughed sheepishly. 

Hikaru began to _walk_ past Lantis, when Lantis reached out an arm and grabbed her. Hikaru turned to look at Lantis.

"Hikaru… I wanted to tell you something." Hikaru was sort of shocked. 

"What are you two _doing_? You said you were only going to find Mokona, Hikaru!" Umi said gruffly as she stormed into the hall. Umi lightened her tone "But we could use some extra help picking fruit, Lantis." Umi smiled. 

"No thanks, maybe later." Lantis said eyeing Umi curiously and turning to leave. Hikaru watched him go.

"Umi-chan!" Hikaru pouted. "He was going to tell me something." 

"Sorry, but Ascot and I need the extra help out there, and you're in here chatting up a storm." Umi sighed.

"Pu pu pu pu!" A familiar noise came from behind a corner.

"Mokona!" Hikaru exclaimed ecstatically as Mokona jumped into her arms. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you! Want to help Umi, Ascot, and I pick fruit?"

"Pu pu pu pu!" Mokona replied.

"Thanks, Mokona!" Hikaru said grinning. Umi sighed at the conversation between Hikaru and the oversized bunny.

"C'mon Hikaru." Umi said as she put her arm around Hikaru and led her out the door. 

Once they were outside again they walked over to the tree full of the gigantic fruit.

"Where were you guys? I was getting worried that you weren't coming back!" Ascot exclaimed while carrying a load of fruit towards a basket.

"I was just fetching Hikaru from her boyfriend." Umi said sighing.

"He's not my boyfriend Umi-chan!" Hikaru said, reddening more than her hair. Umi smiled at Hikaru.

"Just kidding. But it sure did made you blush." Umi winked.

"You brought Mokona?" Ascot asked Hikaru.

"Yup! Mokona wants to help us pick fruit, isn't that right Mokona?" Hikaru said.

"Pu pu pu pu!" Mokona replied.

"I know, Mokona!" Hikaru said cheerfully.

Umi and Ascot just exchanged blinks.

Hikaru walked over to the fruit tree and started to pull a blue and green striped fruit off the tree. Hikaru hadn't realised how heavy these things were. When she pulled the fruit off she went flying backwards. 

"…Heavy…" Hikaru mumbled, dazed. 

Umi walked over to Hikaru took the fruit out of Hikaru's arms and helped Hikaru up.

"Careful, okay, Hikaru? We don't want to get you in the hospital for picking fruit!" Umi kidded.

"What's a hospital?" Ascot asked from behind.

"Um… something from where we come from. They take care of sick or injured people." Umi tried to explain.

"Oh… we don't really have something like that here… There's plenty of magic and herbs to cure illness, so not many people ever die, or stay sick for a long period of time." Ascot explained to Umi and Hikaru with a nod.

"Ascot, what type of fruit are we picking? They're awfully strange, green and blue stripes." Hikaru questioned.

"They're really good and a favorite around here. They're called Greenberries. I love them. Want to try one?" Ascot said looking over to Hikaru.

"But they're also blue!" Hikaru protested. Ascot shrugged. "And yes, I'd love to try one. They look really good." Hikaru said anxiously.

"That's a really bad name for this fruit. Berries are usually small, and they're green and blue. Not just green. Who came up with that name anyway?" Umi questioned.

"It wasn't me Umi. Some guy from a long time ago? Maybe he was color blind." Ascot joked. Umi smiled at Ascot, and Ascot blushed.

Hikaru was picking one of the greenberries out of the tree to eat. 

"You're going to eat that Hikaru-chan?" Umi questioned amazed. Hikaru nodded eagerly. 

Hikaru took a bit into the fruit as Umi gawked at her. Hikaru paused for a moment to examine the taste and smiled. 

"So you like it Hikaru?" Ascot asked Hikaru happily.

"Yeah! I like greenberries!" Hikaru said giggling. "Aren't you going to try one Umi?" 

"Uhh… I don't know, Hikaru-chan… They look kind of foreign to me…" Umi stuttered.

"Oh, Umi, big deal. And they are foreign! This is Cephiro! But they're very good!" Hikaru said trying to be convincing. 

"So you tried Cephiro's legendary greenberries." said a voice from behind. Hikaru, Umi, and Ascot turned around to see Clef walking towards them with Lantis trailing behind.

"Yeah, Clef!" Hikaru replied cheerfully "Hiya again Lantis! You change your mind about coming out?" 

Umi glanced over at Hikaru and gave her the eyebrow. Hikaru blushed and put her head down. Lantis walked toward Hikaru and kneeled down next to her. 

"Want me to help you Hikaru?" Lantis said mysteriously looking into Hikaru's eyes. 

"Uh… sure…" Hikaru said blushing deeply.

"Clef you want to help us pick some greenberries?" Umi said with a bright smile to Clef. Ascot flinched as she said it.

"Well I don't know… I have some castle work to do…" Clef said sighing.

"Uh… yeah! Clef you probably should do your work… We don't want Cephiro collapsing or anything… Don't worry we have a pretty big berry picking team now; Umi, Hikaru, Lantis, Mokona, and I." Ascot stuttered in a panic. 

"Peas Clef?" Umi said with a sad puppy dog look. Clef smiled weakly.

"I suppose so… My work can wait, I guess." Clef sighed but he put his head up to smile at Umi. Ascot flinched again, but Umi didn't notice it.

"Great! Thanks Clef!" Umi smiled and jumped up and grabbed Clef and pulled him by the arm towards the greenberry tree. Ascot grumbled as he grabbed a berry from the tree.

"Wait!" Umi said startled as she looked around "Where are Hikaru and Lantis?" 

Meanwhile Lantis and Hikaru with Mokona in Hikaru's arms were taking a walk through the gardens. While Umi, Clef, and Ascot had been chatting, Hikaru had mentioned that she was getting tired and Lantis offered to take her on a walk. 

"Do you like greenberries too, Lantis? They taste really good, but picking them is a workout." Hikaru said cheerfully looking up at Lantis who was looking away until he turned his head down towards her.

"They're okay, I suppose." Lantis said, uneasily, glancing at Hikaru through his mysterious dark eyes.

"Are there other fruits in Cephiro?" Hikaru questioned Lantis. Hikaru wondered if she was boring Lantis with fruit. Not very attractive. 

"Do you want to put Mokona down for a second? I mean, don't your arms get tired after all that picking and then having to hold onto Mokona?" Lantis asked Hikaru uneasily. 

"Um… okay." Hikaru shrugged and dropped Mokona on the ground. Mokona bounced off into the forest. 

Lantis and Hikaru walked in silence for a few moments. Hikaru felt Lantis reach over and grab her hand. Hikaru blushed and smiled at the same time. Lantis' hand was quite soft but she felt a few scars on his hand. She could feel his pulse, and judging bye it, he was feeling as awkward as she was. 

"Lantis?" she asked.

"Do you mind?" he asked quickly.

"No, not at all!" Hikaru said cheerfully. She felt herself beginning to ease up.

Lantis began to lead Hikaru over towards a fountain in the middle of the castle gardens. They both sat down on the edge of the fountain. Hikaru looked around her at all the beautiful plants and flowers surrounding her in the castle garden. She felt Lantis put his hand to her face and guide her face towards his direction. 

"Lantis…" Hikaru said softly. What was going on? Hikaru wasn't sure what she was supposed to expect. 

"Hikaru…" Lantis said deeply looking into Hikaru's eyes. Where was this conversation going, anyway? "I want to ask you something."

"Sure! Ask away!" Hikaru said smiling. Lantis put his head down for a moment.

"How do you define the relationship between… us?" Lantis said, seeming nervous. Hikaru was shocked Lantis was asking her this. She had to think about this for a moment. Sure, they had never had any romantic connection or interaction, but she knew she really liked him, and he seemed to like her. They had confessed to each other that they loved each other after Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu had defeated Debonair and were returning to their world. They'd never talked about it since then. 

"Uh… Lemonade. We're kind of like lemonade." Hikaru said trying to smile at Lantis.

"Lemonade?" Lantis asked curiously. Hikaru wasn't sure if Lantis knew what lemonade was, but they were back to square one with fruit.

"Lemonade seems like it would be sour, but when you try it you realize how sweet it really is." Hikaru said looking up at Lantis waiting for a reply. "Does that sound stupid?" Hikaru said with a tiny bit of panic in her voice.

"Not at all, Hikaru. It sounds truly magnificent. I've never heard of lemonade, but I'm sure it's wonderful, like you, Hikaru." Lantis said strangely, in a tone Hikaru hadn't heard before. He wasn't really acting like himself, but Hikaru wasn't minding it a bit.

Hikaru wasn't sure what was happening just then but all of a sudden she felt the world around them collapse gently as Lantis leaned forward towards her and placed his lips on hers. It had to be the most magnificent feeling she'd ever had. She felt immortal and that nothing could crush this moment. Hikaru wasn't really sure what she was supposed to do for the moment, but nothing was fine at the time. 

Lantis pulled away from Hikaru, and his eyes sensed that he was eager to hear how Hikaru felt. Hikaru let a small smile slip onto her lips. Lantis looked relieved and smiled his tiny smile back. 

Hikaru threw her arms around Lantis to embrace him in a hug. Lantis was shocked and tipped slightly over, but regained his posture. 

"I love you Lantis." Hikaru mumbled happily. 

"I love you too." Lantis mumbled as he stroked Hikaru's crimson red hair hanging down on her back in a messy braid. 

"Hikaru-sama? Lantis?" a familiar light voice came from the castle, and it was advancing towards the garden. 

Hikaru quickly removed her arms from Lantis and looked around her. She saw a green figure emerging from the castle doorway into the garden. She immediately recognized it as Fuu. 

"Hi Fuu-chan. What's up?" Hikaru said nervously. She wasn't sure if Fuu had seen any of the last moments between her and Lantis. 

"Nothing much, Hikaru. I was just walking around the castle when I saw Umi. She was quite angry and stomping around the castle looking for you. 'Where is that Hikaru?! Her and Lantis only pick one fruit each after telling us they'd help and then they take off!!!'" Fuu mimicked Umi in her usually low voice. 

"Oh… sorry." Hikaru said softly. "I guess we did kind of leave on her…"

"Hikaru-sama, don't worry about it. Umi will be fine. She was just mad at the moment. Chances are, she'll have forgotten about it and have released her anger on something else by then. Probably Mokona." Fuu laughed. 

"Do you want us to come in with you?" Hikaru said acknowledging Lantis with a tilt of the head. 

"Sure. I guess you guys could help Umi with something else…" Fuu said slowly pushing her glasses up her nose. 

Hikaru got up from the fountain and she motioned for Lantis to also get up. Hikaru and Lantis walked behind Fuu towards the castle doorway from the garden. Hikaru was wondering why Lantis wasn't grabbing her hand. Was she supposed to grab his hand? Or maybe it was because Fuu was right in front of them, and Lantis didn't feel comfortable holding Hikaru's hand around Fuu. 

"There you are!" a familiar loud voice came from down the hallway, echoing. "I've been looking all around for you, Hikaru! Where'd you go? We needed some more help! I needed some more help for one thing… Clef and Ascot got into this little skirmish." Umi grumbled on.

"I'm really sorry Umi-chan." Hikaru said sadly. Umi lightened up for a second.

"Oh, it's alright Hikaru. Next time tell us when you two are going to disappear with the oversized bunny." Umi said sighing. 

Lantis had begun to walk in the opposite direction in the hall as they had been chatting. Hikaru spun around, noticing his absence next to her.

"Bye Lantis!" Hikaru said calling down the hall. Lantis gave a wave and a tiny smile before turning around again and continued walking down the hallway.

"Hey! You three! Could you guys help out in the kitchen and make dinner? Our chef is absent today!" Presea called to them from behind a door, peeking out. Umi looked shocked, but Fuu smiled.

"Sure, I know all about cooking." Fuu said.

"You do?" Umi and Hikaru said at the same time.

"Yes. I learned how to one summer, and I cook for my family a few nights a week." Fuu said with a nod.

"I have to cook for my brothers _every_ night of the week." Hikaru groaned.

"I don't have to cook at all, we have a chef at our house. But I do know how to make cake, I learned how to in cooking class once." Umi said firmly.

"We can't have cake for dinner though!" Presea exclaimed.

"True, but I can just follow along with Hikaru and Fuu." Umi said. 

"Great then! Then you can head into the kitchen. Everyone really appreciates this." Presea said, relieved as she walked into the hallway, ready to lead them to the kitchen.

"Before when the castle was supporting all of the Cephiro residents, that would have been a _really big_ job. At least its only royalty and helpers and friends of Clef, etc, etc." Umi added. 

Hikaru, Fuu, and Umi followed Presea into the castle kitchen. It was a quite big kitchen, but it was empty and soundless, as there was no cook.

"What is for dinner tonight?" Hikaru asked Presea.

"I'm not sure. I guess you guys will have to make something on your own from the ingredients. Good luck!" Presea said as she walked out. 

"Fuu," Umi said, taking charge of the operation, "you go find some ingredients that look similar to some Earth ingredients. I'm sure none of us know any Cephiro recipes, but we do know Earth ones, so it'll have to do. Hikaru you go find some pots, pans, and utensils. I'll help you out with that."

"Okay" Fuu and Hikaru both said at the same time, and got to work. 

Umi walked towards Hikaru, who was searching through enormous drawers to find some cooking objects. She glanced over towards Fuu, who was rummaging through some lower cupboards.

"Ah!" Fuu exclaimed. "I know what we can make for everyone! A really good Earth dish!" 

"What's that Fuu?" Hikaru questioned.

"Spaghetti! It's one of my favorites! It's an Italian dish on Earth. I'm sure everyone here will like it." Fuu exclaimed.

"But how'd you find any pasta? This is Cephiro!" Umi questioned. 

"I'm not sure… I guess some of their ingredients look alike to ours. But it'll work! I'll continue looking for some other things like spices and sauce."

"I found some pots!" Hikaru said. "I'm not sure what to do with them because I've never had spaghetti, but you can handle which ones we need, Umi."

"Alright." Umi said. This was working out a lot better than she had expected.

"Fuu-chan…" Hikaru said pulling her head out of a cabinet. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, Hikaru-sama." Fuu said smiling from above, by the sink.

"What do you and Ferio do when you kiss?" Hikaru exclaimed. Fuu blushed immediately. Hikaru knew that by their third time that they'd returned to Cephiro that Fuu and Ferio immediately had fallen in love. She'd seen them kiss before. It was obvious that they'd always liked each other before it. 

"Uhh…" Fuu said startled at the question. Umi was giggling in the background. "What do you mean Hikaru?"

"I mean… what do you do _while_ you kiss? Just stand there?" 

"Well, there's a few different things you can do, I suppose. You can always hold hands, which is any easy one. You can wrap your arms around the guy's neck, while he puts his arms around your waist… I guess you can always stroke hair or something… But if you're nervous you don't have to do anything…" Fuu said with a tiny nod.

"Oh." Hikaru said amazed. How had her friend become such a romance expert all of a sudden?

"You can always french-kiss," Umi piped in, "but I don't think we should teach our little Hikaru about that quite yet."

"Are you planning on kissing someone Hikaru-sama?" Fuu said, forgetting her work and taking a few steps towards Hikaru.

"Yeah, Hikaru, what's with all the questions?" Umi said, also cornering Hikaru, with a spoon in her hand.

"I… uh…" Hikaru said nervously as her two best friends surrounded her.

"C'mon Hikaru…" Umi said evilly, tapping the spoon on her palm for added affect. 

"OKAY! OKAY! ALL RIGHT! I KISSED LANTIS!" Hikaru exclaimed hysterically. Umi and in Fuu were in complete awe for a moment. They'd known that Hikaru and Lantis always liked each other but never hit it off.

Umi and Fuu both grabbed Hikaru and began hugging her.

"Oh my gosh, Hikaru!" Umi exclaimed.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Fuu said, shocked, as her glasses got squished by Hikaru and Umi.

"I'm so happy for our little Hikaru!!" Umi said tightening her grip on Hikaru.

"Hikaru?" Fuu said.

"…Can't…breathe…" Hikaru mumbled. Umi and Fuu immediately got off Hikaru and Umi began to shake Hikaru.

"Sorry, Hikaru-chan! We're just so happy for you! We knew you always liked Lantis and he always liked you! We knew it! We knew it!" Umi said ecstatic.

"I'm all right, Umi-chan. Just let me stand up for a moment." Hikaru said still dazed from her friends' sudden embrace.

"Tell us everything!!" Umi said eagerly.

"Well… there's not much to tell… Lantis asked me if I wanted to take a walk because I said I was tired. After I dropped Mokona off we held hands… And then we sat down and talked for a bit. He asked me what I thought of the relationship between us…" Hikaru trailed off.

"And what did you say Hikaru?!" Umi asked.

"I said Lemonade. Our relationship was like lemonade." Hikaru said firmly.

"Okay, then…" Umi said a little disappointed. 

"But he doesn't even know what lemonade is!" Fuu exclaimed. "It's an Earth drink Hikaru-sama!" 

"Yeah, I know. But he liked it anyway." Hikaru protested.

"Go on Hikaru-chan." Umi prodded.

"Uh… after I told him that I thought our relationship was like lemonade and I explained it, he just kissed me. Then I hugged him and then Fuu walked by."

"I'm so sorry, Hikaru-sama! Did I interrupt anything?" Fuu said worried.

"No, no, you didn't. Don't worry." Hikaru said encouragingly. 

"I'm sooooo happy for you, Hikaru! We both are." Umi said cheerfully.

"Thanks guys. I appreciate your advice." Hikaru said.

"Yes, if you ever need any advice you can always ask me." Fuu added.

"Yeah, me too!" Umi said.

"Umi, you've never even had a boyfriend though. Unless you've hit it off with Clef or Ascot." Hikaru said innocently. 

"HIKARU!" Umi yelled.

"Sorry, Umi. I thought you liked Clef anyway."

"I read enough romance novels to write my own! So I do have some good advice." Umi defended herself. 

"Everything doing alright in here?" came a voice from the kitchen doorway. The three girls turned around to see Clef at the doorway.

"Clef!!!" All three girls exclaimed. Umi hoped Clef hadn't overheard any of the previous conversation.

"Something smells great in here. You can smell it all throughout the castle so I made my way to the kitchen. You girls must be doing a great job."

"Yes, Clef. We're making an Earth dish. I think you'll like it." Fuu spoke for the three girls. Umi was still blushing.

"Something wrong, Umi?" Clef said almost noticing Umi's uneasiness. 

"N-no! When did you show up though?" Umi said worried.

"Just a few moments ago." Clef said.

"You weren't eavesdropping were you Clef?" Hikaru kidded but also taking the question off of Umi's mind.

"No!" Clef exclaimed. "I'll be on my way now."

"Clef! You don't have to leave yet!" Umi called too slowly, as Clef had already left. 

"See, we knew you liked Clef!" Hikaru joked at the blushing Umi.

"Be quiet." Umi said gruffly.

"What about Ascot though?" Fuu added.

"What do you mean?" Umi asked. 

"Girls! Whatever you're making smells really good, so please get to work!" Presea called from the hallway.

"OKAY!" Umi said, eager to get off the subject of her romantic life.

"I guess that means less talking more working…" Hikaru said before putting a pan on the counter.

"Yeah…" Fuu said softly.

*******************************

"That dish you made earlier tonight… what do you call it?" Ferio asked Fuu.

"Spaghetti." Fuu said with a slight nod. 

"Spaghetti. It tasted delicious. Where did you ever learn how to make something like that?" Ferio said astounded.

"It's an Earth dish. Very popular on Earth also. Its not too hard too learn."

"Do you think you could teach me to make that sometime?" Ferio asked shyly.

"Sure!" Fuu responded enthusiastically.

"FUU-CHAN!" Hikaru said as she came running down the hall towards Fuu.

"Yes, Hiakru-sama?" Fuu asked politely.

"Have you… uh… seen Lantis? I've been trying to find him all night!" Hikaru said exasperated. Fuu giggled and Hikaru blushed. Ferio didn't seem to realize what was so funny.

"I saw him walk past Ferio and I a couple minutes ago." Fuu answered. "Hikaru—" she tried to begin but Hikaru was already down the hall.

"Oh well." Ferio said. "What was that all about anyway?"

"Oh nothing." Fuu said smiling. 

*******************************

"LANTIS!"

moments later.

"LANTIS!"

"LANTIS, LANTIS, LANTIS!" Hikaru yelled exasperatedly. Where was he? Fuu said he had just walked by her a few moments ago. Her anger was beginning to rise. 

"Hikaru?" A low voice came from inside a room to her left. Hikaru poked her head into the room and her eyes caught sight of Lantis sitting on a bed in a dark room that was empty except for the bed.

"What are you doing here, silly?" Hikaru said happily as her anger disappeared from her. 

"I just came here to sit down." Lantis said looking down at the ground.

"Mind if I join you?" Hikaru questioned innocently. Lantis gave a tiny nod.

"About earlier…" Lantis mumbled softly.

"Say no more." Hikaru put a finger to his lips but then removed it to embrace him in a kiss.

**__**

La fin.

Notes from **Nayru**:

That was my first one chapter story and my second Magic Knight Rayearth story. Was it long enough? I hope everyone enjoyed it, and please review to let me know what you thought of it. I might even make a sequel later on, if anyone wants. Review time!


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